________________ _________________________News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 8th, 2015

Contact: Brenda Jean Foley (347) 848-6647

Tracy Liz Miller (347) 423-6181
bridgeinit@gmail.com

New York Talent Featured in Bridge Initiative Symposium

Director Stefanie Sertich and Playwright Heidi Armbruster to attend Saturday events
MESA, AZ The Bridge Initiative will host two New Yorkers for Saturday's free
programming. Director Stefanie Sertich will lead a workshop before helming a reading of
playwright/actress Heidi Armbruster's play Dairyland.
The workshop will be held on Saturday, June 13th, at 10:00 a.m. at Mesa Encore Theatre's Black
Box, 318 E. Brown St, Mesa. The workshop is aimed at theatre artists of all disciplines and will
focus on how to get work and keeping working. Sertich leads a panel featuring local artists
Alaina Beauloye, Brian Foley, Barbara McBain, Randy Messersmith, Jennifer Setlow, and Janis
Webb who will discuss their personal career paths and transitions, the necessity for most theatre
artists to work in a cross-disciplinary fashion, and how they've sustained their passion for
working in the theatre. There will also be a mock audition component for actors wishing to
receive feedback on their material and audition technique.
After the workshop, at 2:30 in the same location, Sertich directs Armbruster's biting, funny, and
personal work about losing and finding oneself. Armbruster will be in attendance and participate
in a talkback at the conclusion of the reading that will feature Brittany Brown, Brian Foley, Fred
Gerle, and Rob Stuart.
Celebrating the work of female theatre practitioners feels especially timely and appropriate this
week as Sunday's Tony Awards honored its first winning female musical theatre writing team
(Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori) as well as a female director (Marianne Elliott), whose productions
(Fun Home and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) won Best Musical and Best Play
on Broadway.
Sertich's (http://www.stefaniesertich.com/) work has been lauded by The New York Times. She is
also full-time faculty for LaGuardia Community College and City University of New York.
Armbruster (http://www.heidiarmbruster.com/) has a prolific acting career including featured
work on in major television and motion pictures. Her writing career is blossoming as well, and
she is an artist-in-residence at SPACE on Ryder Farm this summer.
Since its launch in January as a result of an Art Tank grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, The
Bridge Initiative's efforts to promote the work of female theatre artists has been celebrated by local and
national media outlets. Its mission also includes bridging the gap between academia and the professional
world to encourage students to envision a clearer path to becoming lifelong artists.

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